In an interview published on news website UOL this Wednesday, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he does not believe that the Armed Forces would back a coup led by President Jair Bolsonaro — who has already threatened not to accept this year’s election results if he is not victorious.
“The military is more responsible than Bolsonaro. They never gave me any problems,” he said, referring to his two terms as president between 2003 and 2010. “If he starts messing around with democracy, he will pay a very high price.”
Leading the electoral race by a significant margin, Lula blamed Mr. Bolsonaro for the death of Marcelo Arruda, a local Workers’ Party treasurer in the state of Paraná who a Bolsonaro supporter murdered at his own birthday party. “He’s urging society to do this,” he said.
Lula says he is not afraid of being attacked during the campaign but stressed that he is under more security this time around than in any of his previous elections. The Federal Police has provided him with a maximum security escort.
Meanwhile, asked about his potential future cabinet, Lula spoke of favoring people “with political brains” over technocrats.
He also reaffirmed that, if elected, he will alter state-controlled oil major Petrobras’s pricing policy — currently pegged to international rate fluctuations — and create a tax on the profits and dividends of large corporations.
Furthermore, he said he would not run for a second term if he is victorious in October. Indeed, if he does win, Lula would be 81 at the time of the next election.
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